Within Igorot culture it is common to pass on knowledge of traditions and rituals by ear from generation to generation resulting in little documentation existing on many aspects of life and culture from the perspective of the Igorot with the ethnographer often writing and recording Igorot culture on their behalf. This is also true in connection with sonic traditions where many aspects of aural tradition in relation to traditional belief systems, including information on rhythmic; dynamic, timbral and tonal structures being hard to come by online, or if it is, documented in a broad manner with little detail. The information and articles that I have been able to find online are often substantiated by sources which themselves are unsubstantiated, whether it is with wikipedia or a blog post on igorotage(a forum for people of Igorot descent) In a sense, the nature in which information is propagated traditionally doesn’t align with western concepts of knowledge diffusion in the academic sphere which is often shared through literature from an omniscient academic. There are some books that potentially have information on igorot sonic cultures in this format like the works of Jose Maceda, an ethnomusicologist and composer who wrote a book on the indigenous instruments of the Philippines titled ‘Gongs and Bamboo: a Panorama of Philippine Musical Instruments’ which supposedly discusses Philippine instruments and their relation to indigenous belief structures. However, accessing this text is challenging as this book isn’t available for purchase and there isn’t a pdf online anywhere, even on shadow libraries. It can be accessed at SOAS university so I will visit the library when the chance arises in the next couple weeks. Without the ability to find information online I have been in contact with different Igorot community groups and charities based in the UK to try glean more information.

There is a large Igorot community based in Bristol which hold social gatherings with gangsa performances. I have been attending since childhood and it appears when talking to the older generation who take part in the performances there is often disagreements and conflicting information on how the gongs should be played in the ‘traditional’ manner. I have already discussed the potential lack of adjacent words to translate concepts that have evolved under different aural aesthetic conditions from Igorot languages to English in a different blog post, however, the disagreements could be for two other reasons. The first being that Igorot is an umbrella term for multiple ethnic groups and tribes, with each group developing different variants and techniques to play the gongs due to isolation between the different ethnic groups. With the Bristol diaspora community being a mix of different ethnic groups many of the older generations that are involved may have been told different things. The second potential reason is the chinese whisper-esque effect the passing down of information by ear can have in altering information, with the whole community being christian, now two to four generations removed from practicing indigenous belief systems in tandem with the gangsa. As a result, they suggested I contact ‘igouk’ an Igorot charity and community group based in London which will have more information on the traditional significance of gangsa. I have contacted them and awaiting a response.

In the meantime I have found a Paper written by Jessie Grace Mangawit Sannadan, who holds a phD in Development education at Kalinga State University in the Cordillera region, which explains Kalinga(an Igorot group) gangsa playing traditions.